Cairo

Cairo is the largest city in Africa and the Arab world, with a metropolitan population above 21 million, and it holds the last surviving wonder of the ancient world on its western edge.

The Pyramids of Giza are not in a desert far from anywhere — the city runs right up to them. The Great Pyramid was the tallest structure built by human beings for nearly four thousand years, and the Sphinx and the Valley Temple sit beside it. Minutes away, the Grand Egyptian Museum is now the largest archaeological museum in the world, holding over 100,000 objects including the complete contents of Tutankhamun's tomb, displayed together for the first time since 1922.

Beyond the pharaonic sites, Cairo is Islamic and Coptic history layered on top of each other: the Citadel of Salah El-Din, the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, and Khan el-Khalili, a market operating on the same ground since the fourteenth century.

What we run to Cairo

Day tours from Hurghada covering the Pyramids, the Grand Egyptian Museum and the Citadel, a separate Giza, Sakkara, Memphis and Dahshur tour, and private transfers on the Hurghada–Cairo road.

Practical notes

• Cairo is around six hours by road from Hurghada, or an hour by air. Our day tours are long — plan a slow day afterwards.
• Give any driver an exact address. Giza, Downtown and Heliopolis are an hour apart in traffic.
• Bargaining in Khan el-Khalili is normal and friendly. Start well below the asking price.
• Dress modestly for mosques and churches: shoulders and knees covered, and shoes that come off easily.